Washington State Basketball

At A Glance:

LSU: 8-2.  Not ranked in AP, ESPN or BP.  RPI: 69  BPI: 89

Washington State: 8-2.  Not ranked in AP, ESPN or BP.  RPI: 82  BPI: 59

Backcourts:

 

Bo Spencer is the lone scorer from the backcourt that is part of the Bayou Bengals trio of scoring threats.  He doesn’t handle the bell exceptionally well but that’s a recurring theme on this team (their assist to turnover ratio is about even and they only average 12.5 assists a game).  Spencer clearly fits into the scorer/not shooter category with a mediocre 35 percent field goal percentage.  Aside from Spencer, youngsters Chris Bass and Aaron Dotson take care of the ball but rarely shoot it. 

The Cougars are loaded at guard, led by Klay (son of Mychal) Thompson with an eye-popping 25 points a game.  Reggie Moore comes off a double-digit assist game in their last win while Nikola Kaprovica and Abe Lodwick are outside shooting threats.  Marcus Capers and Michael Harthun also contribute solid minutes.

Advantage:  Washington State.  Thompson might outscore the entire Tigers backcourt by himself without any help but he’ll get some help anyway.

 

Frontcourts:

 

Tasmin Mitchell has established a stronghold at the small forward position and never comes out even to take a drink of water (38 minutes a game).  His forward counterpart, Storm Warren, has emerged as a double-double threat in every game with shotblocking capabilities but is also a threat to foul out as well.  Dennis Harris has shown promise and could be a decent center one day while Eddie Ludwig and Zack Kinsley show occasional flashes off the bench.

As loaded as the Cougars are in the backcourt they are painfully thin up front.  Lodwick usually plays out of position at power forward and DeAngelo Casto, while certainly game, has his hands full in the pivot.  Brock Motum and James Watson are the only players to offer any real relief off the bench.

Advantage:  LSU.  Mitchell should get by Kaprovica at will while Warren will manhandle Lodwick on the boards.

 

Coaching:

 

Trent Johnson hasn’t had many bad seasons – in fact, he hasn’t been through a losing campaign since 2000-01, his second year at Nevada.  But this year the SEC has rebounded and a 27-8 repeat looks unlikely.  He has to hope his three horses don’t burn out in the middle of conference play.

Ken Bone got Portland State relevant again for the first time since Freeman Williams was plying his trade for the Vikings in the mid-1970s.  He hasn’t missed a beat with the Cougars and has lifted the brakes off their slow-paced offense, making his charges more exciting than the tortoise-paced editions under the Bennett family.

Advantage:  Washington State.  Johnson will try to reign in the tempo but Bone has gotten his kids to force action consistently throughout the year.

Prediction:

It all depends on if we see Slayer-style thrash metal (Washington State) or R. Kelly-style slow jams (LSU).  I like games that feature contrasting styles and strengths, especially when the opponents are pretty evenly matched.  Tonight, the edge goes to Wazoo, who have managed to pour in the points in nearly every contest.

Washington State 78, LSU 66.

Washington State men's and women's basketball will host their next opponents tomorrow night in the Tri-Cities area. Their "home" games will be played on the hardwood floor of the Toyota Center in Kennewick, WA, 139 miles southwest of Pullman, WA.

Coach June Daugherty will lead the WSU Cougar (4-5) women against the San Francisco Dons (4-8) in the first game of a WSU double header at the Toyota Center. Tipoff for their game will be at 1:30pm PST.

The Dons will limp into this matchup stinging from the loss of five of their last six games. Washington State is improving with each contest and has won two of their last three games. Freshman guard Kiki Moore is the Coug's top scorer, averaging nearly 14 points a game.

Following the opening game, the Washington State men's team will take the floor at 4:30pm PST to play Coach Ken Bone 's former team, Portland State.

Strange as it might sound, Coach Bone pointed out during his teleconference Wednesday morning that playing this game in Kennewick may serve as a greater advantage than at Beasley Coliseum. It all has to do with timing.

Finals week is finishing up today on campus in Pullman. For the few unfortunate students who were scheduled for exams today, they will be a part of the mass exodus from the Palouse known as Holiday Break. Truth be known, most of the student body is already somewhere other than their apartment or dorm room on campus.

"If we were playing this game in Pullman, I'm not sure we would draw real well. As I look at the past seasons and how the draw was in regards to attendance in Pullman during Christmas break, we'll probably draw better being in Kennewick," said WSU Coach Ken Bone. 

The Cougs have won their last two games over Idaho and Air Force, but there is still work to be done preparing for Pac-10 play, which begins in just a couple of weeks.

Coach Bone would like to see better effort rebounding and keeping opponents off the offensive glass. Sophomore DeAngelo Casto has picked up where he left off last season. He leads the team with nearly seven boards a game. There has been increased rebounding production from sophomore Abe Lodwick , freshman Steven Bjornstad, and freshman James Watson, but there's plenty of room for continued improvement.

"I think Charlie Enquist has improved since last year. James Watson continues to get better and better. He had a great practice yesterday as did Steven Bjornstad. I'm not sure they're ready to be looked at as real quality Pac-10 players now, but neither was Aron Baynes when he first started out. It takes time for big kids to develop, usually a little bit longer than guards," Coach Ken Bone said. 

Taking care of the basketball is usually the difference between winning and losing. Coach Bone and his staff emphasize the importance of being purposeful as a player when the ball is your hands. Much of the time turnovers lead to transition opportunities for your opponent. Trying to defend when the other team is in transition makes getting the ball back without giving up a basket a greater challenge.

"Making quality decisions when we have the ball in our hands, whether it's a shot or a pass. Where to dribble and when to dribble. There needs to be a purpose for putting the ball on the floor and dribbling. I'm not a big fan of guys catching and just start dribbling for no reason," Coach Ken Bone said. 

Portland State is not your typical Big Sky Conference team. They advanced to the NCAA tournament the past two seasons. The Vikings have more shooters than General Sherman had on his march through the South.

Melvin Jones , Phil Nelson, and Jamie Jones average in double figures with 13.0, 12.5, and 12.2 points per game, respectively. What's dangerous about that trio is any one of them could go off for 20+ points in a single half. So how do you slow down the PSU pure shooters?

"We hope to be on them when they catch the ball and not give them a good look at the basket. When the do shoot it, it's a contested shot. There's no secret who those kids are just like it's no secret the Klay Thompson is an outstanding shooter," Coach Ken Bone said. 

Yes, Portland State will have their hands full trying to slow down one of the top college players in the nation, Klay Thompson , who has the habit of suddenly running off 20+ points in a half.

In fact, he exploded for a couple of those halves in the Great Alaska Shootout championship game against San Diego. Klay put 43 points up on the scoreboard, something of a rarity by Pac-10 players. Only two others have accomplished that feat in the past five years. James Harden of Arizona State scored 40 in a game last season, and Leon Powe of Cal had 41 back in the 2005-2006 season.

Coach Tyler Geving was an assistant under Coach Bone before taking over the program this season. Geving has continued a style of play very similar to the one being run by Washington State. In short, this should be a high scoring affair, as both teams will trigger the ball up the court early and often.

If you can't make it to the Toyota Center Saturday afternoon, take in the broadcast of the game on FSN Northwest, and as always you can hear Bud Nameck on the Cougar Radio Network.

Originally published in Lew Wright's WSU Sports column on Examiner.com

After capturing the gold medal in New Zealand this summer, the USA Men’s U19 World Championship Team, featuring Washington State sophomores DeAngelo Casto and Klay Thompson , has been named the 2009 USA Basketball Team of the Year, the organization announced this week.

Led by the Coach Jamie Dixon from the University of Pittsburgh, the USA U19 squad compiled a perfect 9-0 record over the course of the ten day tournament in this past July in Auckland, New Zealand. The outstanding run by the team ended an 18-year gold medal drought for USA Basketball in the U19 World Championship.

Coach Dixon was ably assisted by collegiate head coaches Chris Lowery of Southern Illinois University and Matt Painter of Purdue University.

“Our squad embodied a true team,” said Dixon, who was also named the 2009 USA Basketball National Coach of the Year. “We didn’t have the best player in the tournament or maybe even the best one through five players, but we definitely had the best one through 12. We won with our depth and teamwork. We were also fortunate to have a three-man head coaching staff with Chris Lowery and Matt Painter.”

Thompson was instrumental in USA capturing the Gold Medal, averaging 7.8 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.0 assists in the team’s nine games. He scored nine or more points six times, including 10 points in the championship game, an 88-80 victory over Greece on July 12th.

Casto played in four games at the World Championships with the USA team before injuring his knee. He averaging 6.2 points, 3.2 rebounds and 0.8 blocks per game. DeAngelo reached double-figures in the opening game, with 10 points in a 106-55 victory over Iran on July 2nd.

USA Basketball will submit the USA U19 squad for the U.S. Olympic Committee’s 2009 Team of the Year award, which is expected to be announced by the USOC in January, 2010.

“The 2009 USA Men’s U19 World Championship Team was impressive on and off the court this past summer,” said Jim Tooley, USA Basketball Executive Director/CEO.“The team represented USA Basketball in the best way possible and truly played up to its potential. Congratulations to all of the players and coaches. They certainly deserve this recognition.”

The USA team, which averaged 88.2 points per game and defeated opponents by an average of 22.2 points per game over the course of the tournament. They began their journey with team trials mid-June in Colorado Springs, CO. Including scrimmages and trials, Coach Dixon and his staff had just 14 days to train and prepare prior to the U19 World Championship.

Following trials, 12 players were selected as members of the 2009 USA U19 Word Championship Team, as Casto and Thompson were joined by:

Seth Curry - Duke
Ashton Gibbs - Pittsburgh
Gordon Hayward - Butler
Shelvin Mack - Butler
Darius Miller - Kentucky
Arnett Moultrie - UTEP
John Shurna - Northwestern
Tyshawn Taylor - Kansas
Howard Thompkins - Georgia
Terrico White - Mississippi

The USA opened the U19 Worlds with a 106-55 win over Iran on July 2nd. They next posted a 71-55 victory over France and then closed preliminary play with a 112-55 drubbing of Egypt.

In the second round, the U.S. defeated Greece 85-69, Puerto Rico 82-61 and Lithuania 76-69 to advance to the medal round quarterfinals as a No. 1 seed.

The USA team claimed a 93-73 win over Canada on July 10th, to advance into the semifinals, where it fought off Croatia for an 81-77 win.

In the gold medal game on July 12th, which featured a rematch against Greece, the U.S. recorded an 88-80 victory to finish undefeated and claim the U19 World Championship title.

Among the 16 teams, the USA finished ranked:

No. 1 in scoring offense
No. 1 in scoring margin
No. 1 in field goals made (204)
No. 1 in three-point field goals made (84)
No. 1 in three-point field goals attempted (238)
No. 1 in fewest turnovers per game (12.9).

The U.S. defense limited its foes to just 66.0 points per contest and a frigid 38.2 percent shooting from the field.

The U.S. squad set single-game USA U19 World Championship team records for:

Three-point field goals made (14)
Three-point shots attempted (37)
Most blocked shots (12)

An individual game mark was tied by Hayward and Shurna for blocked shots (four) and Klay Thompson set a USA individual competition high for three-point percentage, converting a sizzling 51.6 percent of his attempts.

The 2009 squad also established USA U19 competition records for:

Three-point field goals made
Three-point field goals attempted
Free throws attempted (239)
Assists (145)
Blocked shots (58).

The 2009 announcement marks the 14th time USA Basketball has presented the Team of the Year Award.

The honor has been earned by the historic 1996 USA Women’s National Team/Olympic Team; 1997 USA Women’s Junior World Championship Team; 1998 and 2002 USA Women’s World Championship squads; 1999 USA Men’s Tournament of the Americas Team; 2000 and 2004 USA Women’s Senior National/Olympic teams; the 2001 USA World Championship For Young Men Team; the 2003 USA World Championship for Young Women Team; the 2005 USA U19 World Championship for Women Team; the 2006 Men’s Senior National Team; the 2007 USA Men’s Senior National Team and USA Women’s National Team; and the 2008 U.S. Men’s and Women’s Olympic Teams.

Originally published in Lew Wright's WSU column on Examiner.com

Washington State (8-2) men's basketball Coach Ken Bone talked about the progress of players coming off the bench Tuesday morning. For the Cougs to be successful when conference play begins at the end of this month, bench depth will be critical.

Up tempo college basketball requires a number of components, not the least of which is stamina. It's one thing for players to talk about running up and down the court. In Division I basketball, pushing the ball for 40 minutes of playing time is easier said than done.

Coach Bone likes to employ an up tempo style of play, and has many years of experience coaching players to flourish within that system.

WSU will need quality minutes from players coming off the bench against Pac-10 opponents. Up to this point in the season, the Cougs have played several teams with speed and quickness. They have only played two ball clubs which have both those qualities plus strength up front.

When facing Gonzaga and Kansas State, WSU was out-muscled in the second half of both games. Strength was the issue, not effort on the part of the Cougs. It's no coincidence those are the only two losses for the Cougs.

As Coach Bone has mentioned before, his players aren't going to gain much in the way of size or strength in the next couple of months. However, they will be developing experience necessary to compete effectively with stronger players.

One of the stronger players on the Washington State roster is senior forward Nikola Koprivica . Nik's one of the first players off the bench in the current rotation used by Coach Bone. The entire Cougar coaching staff is working to develop others who will deliver good minutes up front.

James Watson is a redshirt freshman who has raw talent. Watson has been snake-bit by the injury bug in the past, but is finally healthy. "James is a redshirt freshman who’s just played 32 minutes after ten games," said Bone. "I would love to get him in there more."

The key to getting more playing time for Watson is pretty basic. "He needs a better understanding of what we’re trying to do on the court before he gets his minutes," explained Coach Bone.

In terms of development and learning the system of Coach Bone, Charlie Enquist is ahead of Watson. Enquist has earned significant playing time and made the most of his minutes. He has come off the bench to do some good things at both ends of the court. "That’s what Charlie has been able to do. He understands the system and right now is executing a little bit better than James," Coach Bone said in describing his use of the two players.

There's no mistaking the potential of James Watson. His role with the Cougs could well determine just how successful they are once Pac-10 play begins.

"...we need James (Watson). He’s 6’9” and he’s a real live body, extremely quick, can guard a few different positions and we need to get more minutes out of him." - WSU Coach Ken Bone

Originally published in Lew Wright's WSU column on Examiner.com

Tuesday morning Coach Ken Bone had positive things to say about the progress of Washington State men's basketball during the Pac-10 coaches teleconference. His Cougar team is off to an 8-2 start, so you'd expect to hear good things from the head man.

Though we're 10 games into the season, it's far too early to get a fix on how good the Cougs are going to be this season. But there are some signs this young team is going to be very competitive every time they lace 'em up and take to the hardwood.

The development of Klay Thompson as a scorer may have surprised some, but don't count Coach Bone among that number.

After the first ten games, Thompson is averaging 25.1 points per game, double his scoring production of last season. Then again, Klay has taken his game up a notch or two after being a key player on the USA U19 men's basketball team last summer.

Playing last year for Coach Tony Bennett , Thompson was basically a player who would come off screens, catch, and shoot. That system proved to be very successful for WSU, taking them to two NCAA appearances and an NIT berth the past three seasons.

When Coach Bone took over the Washington State basketball program last spring he saw Thompson as a potential scorer rather than just a shooter. With the graduation of Aron Baynes , Taylor Rochestie, and Daven Harmeling , the Cougs needed scoring to fill that void. No question which student-athlete on the WSU roster has the tools to put the ball through the hoop with consistency on a regular basis.

"(Klay Thompson) is doing a good job of looking to score. He’s in a situation right now with our team that he’s the best scorer. Not only does he recognize that, his teammates recognize that and the staff recognizes that. He has a green light to look to shot and if he’s not open we want him to try and attack and score more than just coming off screens and shooting. He’s averaging around 7 free throws a game, which we think is important. Last year he took 31 free throws on the year" —WSU Coach Ken Bone

Bone is pleased with Thompson embracing the challenge as well as his effort to look for ways to score. But then again, that's what most players aspire to. But when Coach Bone was asked if he expected Klay to be averaging 25 points a game, his response was matter-of-fact.

"I did, just because of the makeup of our team and the fact that we were going to try and get up and down the floor a little bit more. So therefore it doesn’t surprise me. I don’t think at the end he’ll be averaging 25 a game. We’re going to start facing some stiffer competition. I do think he’ll end up being our leading scorer and probably be in the low 20’s somewhere." —Coach Ken Bone

When it comes to getting up and down the floor a little bit more, well, Coach Bone believes that is the way every kid wants to play. Whether or not they can actually do that is another thing. Running and pushing the ball sounds great to just about any basketball player, but that's not a style everyone can play at a high level for the entire schedule.

The faster tempo the Cougs are playing this season is producing more point production. Most fans love to see their team score. Coach Bone is concerned his team is not just scoring more points; they are also giving up a lot more points on the defensive end of the court. Last year WSU led the nation in scoring defense. No chance of a repeat performance this year. With an up tempo pace, opponents are going to have more possessions and chances to score.

Along with the play of Thompson, Coach Bone expressed delight in the performance at point guard of true freshman Reggie Moore . One of the keys to Moore's early success stems from his care with the ball. Handling the ball on offense much of the 30 minutes he's averaging, Moore has committed just 23 turnovers. That's impressive considering the effectiveness of his distribution of the ball while averaging around 13 points a game. "I’m just really pleased with what he’s been able to accomplish," Bone said.

This coming Saturday, Washington State will face Portland State, Coach Bone's former team, in Kennewick, WA. Since Pac-10 teams have done very well against Big Sky teams this year, the expectation is the game will be an easy win for the Cougs.

"It’s going to be really tough. Being the coach at Portland State the last few years, I’m pretty aware of most every guy on that team. They hit 17 threes the other day against Pepperdine and set a record for that building. Phil Nelson hit 8 in one game and yet Phil isn’t even the best three-point shooter on the team. I know we’ve got our work cut out for us and people will understand that come Saturday." —Coach Ken Bone

Bone didn't miss a chance to praise the job Coach Tyler Geving is doing after taking over the Viking basketball program.

Then again, Coach Bone is doing pretty well with his new team.

Originally published in Lew Wright's column on Examiner.com

Pullman, WA

The Washington State Men's Basketball team returned to their home court Wednesday night. Playing a very competitive Idaho Vandal (5-3) squad in front of 7,285 fans, the Cougs (7-2) notched their seventh victory of the season by a final score of 76-64.

Speaking of seven, the win tonight marks the seventh consecutive win by WSU in the longest running series in the nation between two schools outside the Ivy League.

WSU's tandem of sophomores Klay Thompson and DeAngelo Casto led the way for the Cougars.

Thompson turned in another strong overall performance scoring 25 points, grabbing 9 boards and had a nice block midway through the second half. Klay has been consistent at both ends of the court to begin this season. He's scored 20+ points in 8 of 9 games. And once again, Thompson logged 35 minutes of playing time.

In what is quickly becoming habitual for Casto, he logged yet another double-double scoring 13 points and grabbing 14 rebounds. Playing with his characteristic high energy, Casto was credited with 4 blocked shots while bothering at least a dozen other attempts by Vandal players:

“I’m really proud of DeAngelo (Casto). He came out tonight and got 14 rebounds against a team that’s athletic, strong and he showed what he’s capable of doing. Our team did a nice job (rebounding) and I think DeAngelo did an outstanding job.” - WSU Coach Ken Bone

Both teams play evenly for most of the first half. Idaho took an early 12-8 lead by matching the pressure and intensity of the Cougs. That margin proved to be the largest lead Idaho would have all night.

Under Coach Don Verlin , Idaho has improved dramatically. He has the Vandals playing aggressive defense and holding WSU to shooting just 43.3% from the field. They were able to occasionally disrupt Washington State's motion offense installed by Coach Ken Bone .

The first half ended with a 17-9 run by WSU to take a 36-28 lead into the locker room marking the first time Idaho trailed an opponent at the half this season.

Whatever Coach Bone said to his team at halftime should be bottled and used every game for the rest of the year. The Cougs roared out of the intermission with a 21-2 run that looked to dampen the spirits of the Vandal players. Well, Coach Verlin would have none of that. He expects his team to play hard for 40 minutes and emptied his bench in search of players that could and would.

WSU seemed to run out of gas just about the time the Idaho players got the message their coach was sending them. Led by Jeff Ledbetter bombing away from outside the NBA 3-point line, Idaho picked away at the massive 27-point lead built up by the Cougs.

Bucket by bucket and hustle-play after hustle-play, the Vandals made a game of it as the second half clock was winding down.

Ledbetter hit the final of his four 3-point shots with 1:05 left to close the score to 71-64 in favor of WSU. From about the 9-minute mark to Ledbetter's trey, the Cougs managed a measly 2 buckets from the field.

With the time clock ready to expire, the desperate Vandals were forced to foul on every inbounds pass by the Cougs. In crunch time, WSU players made their free throws with the game on the line.

In the previous two games, both WSU losses, the guys in crimson and gray unis were pressured into a ridiculous number of turnovers. Tonight Washington State protected the ball and committed just 10 turnovers:

"We had six in the first half and only four in the second half. We didn’t see the same type of pressure we saw at Kansas State. We faced a good team who’s quick and fairly aggressive. I thought the guys did a nice job taking care of the ball overall.” - WSU Coach Ken Bone

Washington State was able to run their motion offense to perfection early in the second half. Their run was triggered by some fine outside shooting from behind the 3-point arc by Abe Lodwick and Nikola Koprivica :

“We need that position to hit shots from the perimeter. It opens up everything else for our guards, our bigs and everybody. It’s great that (Abe Lodwick and Nikola Koprivia) were 4 for 6 together from the three point line. If we could get them to make at least two or three between the two of them every night it really helps our offense. It’s based on our 4-man (forward) touching a lot on the perimeter and open things up for other people.” - WSU Coach Ken Bone

The freshman combo of Reggie Moore and Xavier Thames played another nice game at point guard. Both continue to play with poise and composure that belies their tender age. Moore played 33 minutes of near flawless basketball knocking down 12 points and passing out 4 assists. When X came off the bench, the Cougs continued to play good basketball with him at the point.

Next up for Washington State is the first of three "home" games away from Pullman. The Cougars will take on Air Force Saturday afternoon at 1pm PST in the Spokane Arena. Bud Nameck reported tonight, on the Cougar Sports Radio Network , there might be a few seats left. For information call (800) GO-COUGS.

Originally published in Lew Wright's column on Examiner.com

Pullman, WA —After two tough games on the road, the Washington State Cougar men's basketball team (6-2) returns home to take on nearby rival Idaho (5-2). Tip off for the Wednesday night game on Friel Court in Pullman is slated for 8pm PST.

Before taking a look at the Vandals, there were a number of topics covered by Coach Ken Bone during his news conference Tuesday morning.

Coach Bone learned more about his team from the games with Gonzaga (6-2) and Kansas State (7-1), both losses for the young Cougs.

Despite playing in front of hostile fans in Spokane and Manhattan, KS, Bone was impressed by the composure of his squad. His players didn't let noise or heckling become a factor. Poise under pressure in these hostile atmospheres will prove to be a significant asset for the Cougs once they begin conference play.

Revisiting the Gonzaga contest where the Cougs lead for about the first 30 minutes of play, Coach Bone was pleased to see his players match up well against one of the top teams in the nation on their home court. The Zags were clearly the best team WSU had gone up against in their first six games. He felt they handled the situation with composure.

When asked if he would do anything differently in the second half of the Gonzaga game, Coach Bone was candid in his response:

"After watching the video a couple of times I think more of it falls on myself than the kids. The dilemma is this. You get up 12 or 13 with the guys you have out there, so do you stick with them or do you take them out and think, 'Well, I’m going to rest those guys now and play some other kids that in my mind aren’t quite as good and won’t compete quite as well.' Within that, we’re resting some of our better players. I did not want to take that risk that game. I felt like we could weather the storm. There would be enough timeouts, dead balls situations and the adrenaline at the end of the game would help us get through it. But as I look back on that game, I think that hurt us. It hurt by the fact that we just don’t have the kind of depth that I feel we need to compete with a team of that level for 40 minutes... We just physically ran out of gas."

Kansas State ran out to a big lead over WSU to begin their game. It was a lead the Cougs weren't able to overcome. Coach Bone credited Kansas State Coach Frank Miller with having his team well prepared to come out aggressively right from the opening tip:

"Playing against guys that are little bigger, a little quicker, a little stronger and way more aggressive. It’s hard to simulate that in practice. Once we settled down, after we were down like 15 or 18 points, I thought we did a much better job. It was that initial blow that really hit us and we didn’t handle it very well."

Kansas State played tough, physical basketball for 40 minutes to earn their 86-69 victory:

"Everything they did, we had not seen. That’s why you play those games. That’s exactly why you play those types of teams to prepare you for your conference. We came out of there a better team. We didn’t play well, but now we’ve experienced what we did that night. I think it will help us down the road."

Some might view two consecutive non-conference losses by the Cougs with a raised eyebrow. Looking at the remaining games on the schedule, there were some very good things coming out of this past road trip for WSU. Coach Bone pointed out the tenure of both Coach Martin and Coach Few at Kansas State and Gonzaga puts them where an established basketball program should be. Both schools have players with experience:

"That’s where we hope to be in another couple of years. Right now, we have not even got in a number of things within our motion offense."

Sophomore guard Klay Thompson was leading the nation in scoring before the last two games. Thompson remains the main offensive weapon for Washington State, but he struggled with the defensive effort put on him by the Zags and K-State:

"I think (Klay Thompson) has learned that teams will play more physical than the first six games we had. He needs to work on his ball handling. He’s been in the gym each day since we got back from Kansas State, just working on his ball handling and going against pressure defense because he’ll continue to see that."

Coach Bone pointed out the biggest challenge facing Thompson in the coming months will be the rotation of players defending him. With Klay on the floor roughly 35 minutes every game, he will have to pace himself to compete with fresh legs coming at him.

Switching gears and looking to the game with Idaho Wednesday night, Coach Bone sees similarities between the Vandals and K-State. Aggressive and quick, second year coach Don Verlin saw his team down No. 25 Portland with a smothering defense.

Idaho has a pair of talented guards in Steffan Johnson and Mac Hobson. Yes, some may remember Hobson began his collegiate career at Washington State before transferring to Idaho in search of more playing time and an up-tempo style. For that matter, Johnson is a transfer as well, moving to Idaho from Pacific where he was All-Big West. He was selected as the WAC's Preseason Newcomer of the Year.

Coach Verlin doesn't have a big man in the center position to intimidate and grab rebounds. However, the Vandals are showing improvement hitting the boards.

In a Rivals story recently, Coach Verlin had this to say about his club:

“Our team will play hard,” he said. “They’ve got a little something about them. … This team is going to play hard, night in and night out.”

If you can't make it to Beasley Coliseum Wednesday, the WSU-Idaho will be telecast on FSN Northwest. As always, you can enjoy listening to Bud Nameck calling the action on the Cougar Sports Radio Network.

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WSU - IDAHO FUN FACTS:

• Washington State and Idaho are meeting for the 105th consecutive men’s basketball season.

• The two schools have the oldest continuous rivalry West of the Mississippi River

• It is the sixth longest continuous rivalry nationally behind Columbia/Yale (109th season), Princeton/Yale (109th season), Pennsylvania/Princeton (108th season), Columbia/Pennsylvania (107th season) and Cornell/Pennsylvania (107th season).

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Cougar Hoops Notes:

Coach Ken Bone noted, "...Brock Motum hasn’t played a lot of minutes but he’s 8 for 10 from the field and 3 for 4 from the three-point line. He’s just gotten better and better after he tripped over his own feet that one game. I’m excited about that because I do believe he’s got a chance to be really good down the road. He’s made good steps even though he’s had minimal minutes."

Bone went on to say, "I think Reggie Moore and Xavier Thames , for being freshmen, have done some really good things. They are not consistent at this point, but for freshmen I think they’re doing some good stuff on the floor."

Originally published in Lew Wright's WSU Cougars column on Examiner.com

Washington State traveled up the road to Spokane tonight to take on rival Gonzaga. Coach Mark Few's team showed why they are the No. 16 ranked basketball team in the nation.

When the final buzzer sounded, a split second before, Xavier Thames had swished a long heave from just past the mid-court line and the scoreboard read: Gonzaga 74, WSU 69.

Coach Ken Bone saw his young team come out of the gate strong. The Cougs were up by 15 at the 2:09 mark of the first half; 35-20.

WSU played some smothering defense much of the opening half, looking very much like a team blending the best of both worlds.

Good, tough defense mixed with pushing the ball upcourt on offense.

Not only were the Cougs playing the No. 16 team in the country, this was their first contest against a team with the manpower to put a body on Klay Thompson. Klay came into the game leading the nation in scoring which put a target on his uni the entire game.

That's going to be the case every game from the point forward on the schedule until WSU gets consistent scoring from players other than Thompson.

"(Klay Thompson) didn't get very many good looks. Gonzaga did a good job of rotating guys. That's the way it is when we start up against Top 20 teams that have two or three guys his size or bigger than can guard him. They get physical with him and Klay did a great job keeping his composure and kept working hard. It's hard to get good looks when teams just take turns with fresh legs going after him." —WSU Coach Ken Bone

The second half was a see-saw battle between a couple of well coached teams.

It appeared things would get away from WSU early in the second half, but they steadied themselves and seemed to withstand the high energy the Bulldogs came out of the locker room with at halftime. Gonzaga cut the Cougar lead down into single digits around the 16-minute mark looking as though that fickle lady, Ms. Momentum, moved to their end of the court.

Instead of being taken out of their game and dispatched by Gonzaga, the young Cougs pushed the margin back up to a 12-point lead with about 10 minutes left in the game.

More importantly than the margin of the score, Washington State shocked the packed house of fans inside The Kennel. Sure, there was more noise than WSU players have heard since they were at home with the Zzu Crew, but the volume level wasn't cranked up to 10-plus until there was about four minutes left in the game.

When Elias Harris flushed the rock with about three minutes left and the score in favor of the Zags 65-64 the noise level of the crowd nearly blew the roof off the arena. Gonzaga's last lead was just minutes into the game at 9-7.

"I don’t think our kids have anything to hang their heads about. I thought they left it on the court. It’s not like they didn’t try in the last six or seven minutes. I could have done a better job also with some things. I’m trying to learn our guys. I probably should have got DeAngelo out a few more minutes so he was fresh down the stretch. I think he was fatigued and it showed up in a few different areas at both ends of the court." —Coach Bone

Coach Few's troops outscored WSU 23-9 down the stretch. That's what Top 25 teams do, especially on their home court.

Just as Gonzaga showed why they are a top ranked team, Washington State looked like a team coming off the Great Alaska Shootout where they won three games in four days.

"All in all, we did a good job. We’re going to get better and I think tonight we did get better. Playing this game tonight the way we did on their court, which is a difficult place to play, I think our guys got better tonight. That’s what it’s about. We want to peak at the right time, but not when it’s Dec. 2. It’s nice to win now, but it’s all about getting better." —Coach Bone

With the victory, Gonzaga moves to 6-1 on the season while Washington State shares the same record of 6-1, absorbing their first loss. Klay Thompson was held to just 15 points on 6-21 shooting. The young man from Ferris High School in Spokane, DeAngelo Casto, earned a second consecutive double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

The two freshman guards, Reggie Moore and Xavier Thames added 10 and 11 points respectively. Both Moore and Thames did a good job running the offense and harassing the Zags defensively. Senior Nikola Koprivica came off the bench and played one of his best games tonight scoring eight points while leading the team in assists with four.

"I definitely think we learned a lot tonight. I think we grew as a program. We’re really young but I think we took a good step toward the right direction. That’s really what it’s about. The season’s not over today it’s hopefully over in March." —Sophomore forward DeAngelo Casto

 

 

Originally published in Lew Wright's column on Examiner.com

The WSU football team was so bad this season that it never had a chance to pull off one of those gut-wrenching, how-did-they-do-that, come-from-ahead losses that we all know as Couging It.

Not to fear, though, because the Cougar basketball team is here.

In its first real test of the season, Ken Bone’s squad pulled off the prototypical Coug It against Gonzaga on Wednesday night, turning a 15-point, first-half lead into a 74-69 loss.

In a single game, the sophomoric (and freshmany) Cougs showed just who they are and who they eventually will become.

In the first half, they were surprisingly dominant, building a 15-point lead at one point and heading into halftime up 39-27. They did it with the trademark defense they developed under Tony Bennett and have maintained thanks to the return of defensive assistant coach Ben Johnson; Gonzaga shot just 36 percent in the first half.

It was a commanding performance on the floor of a good opponent that showed exactly what the Cougars can become under Bone. Eventually.

But the game flipped in the second half as the Cougars showed who they are right now—an incredibly young team with only one senior and 14 players in just their first or second seasons.

Their young defense melted under the intensity of the Zags’ aggressive attack as Ellis Harris and Matt Bouldin combined for 35 of the Zags’ 47 second-half points. Harris scored 21 of his 24 in the last half, and Bouldin had 14 of his career-high 28 (seven three-pointers).

WSU's offense, meanwhile, did not score a field goal for 10 minutes in the second half.

Sophomore Klay Thompson, who was leading the nation in scoring at 28 points per game, looked like he did at the end of last season, when he disappeared in the Cougars’ biggest games.

Thompson led the Cougs with 15 points, but it was hard to remember any of them as he made just six of 21 shots, went 0-for-4 from three-point range, and missed four of his seven free throws.

You have to hope this doesn’t become a trend, where the streaky-shooting Thompson always has his bad games in the big games. Let’s hope we don’t see Klaynk very often.

The loss to the 17th-ranked Zags was incredibly disappointing, particularly considering how well WSU played in the first half. In one half, the Cougs went from possible top 25 team back to the developing basketball nation they are.

As Bone said, it was a simple sign of youth that they let it get away. They admittedly lost their focus and became intimidated by the crowd at Gonzaga’s McCarthey Athletic Center, where the Zags are now 65-3 since it opened in 2004.

As WSU freshman Reggie Moore told reporters, “Some of our guys thought the game was won already.”

It’s a valuable lesson for Bone’s first team, and that’s really what this season will be all about: gaining experience and building toward the next couple of years, when the Cougars will be legitimate Pac-10 contenders and should find themselves in the NCAA tournament in 2011 and 2012— and hopefully beyond.

Two former sports reporters freed from the constraints of traditional print media write about the hot topics on both the Seattle and national sports scenes. No deadlines, no word count, no press box decorum—we're Outside The Press Box .

Washington State men's basketball team has played six decent teams in this young season. The Cougars have looked good,  winning all six games and a tournament championship.

"It's time to step forward and face some good competition," said Coach Ken Bone on Tuesday morning during his news conference.

The very young Cougars have played very good basketball to begin the new season. With a new coach, a new system, and only one upper classman, few would have projected WSU to completely dominate a good San Diego Torero club in the Great Alaska Shootout Championship Game.

Wednesday night, Coach Bone and the Cougars will travel 73 miles north to Spokane to take on the No. 16 Gonzaga Bulldogs on their home court.

Wednesday night, the schedule gets very tough and won't get much easier until November of 2010.

Listening to Coach Bone talk Cougar basketball, he wouldn't have it any other way.

Make no mistake, Coach Bone is quietly confident his team will be prepared to take a step up in the quality of their opponents.

In his words, "I’m excited for our guys. I think it’s good. I think it’s exactly what we need. We’ve played some decent teams, but it’s time to take a step forward and face some good competition. Unfortunately we’re playing great competition. You know, that’s one of the reasons these guys go on to play college basketball. To play in venues like what Gonzaga has. There will be a great crowd. They’ll be hostile. That’s fun for guys. I’m excited they’re going to get a chance to play in front of a good crowd and find out what we’re made of at this point."

After the first six games, Washington State's play barely resembles the style of play fans have been accustomed to over the past few seasons. Sure, they still play tough defense, but the new version of crimson and gray are playing a different brand of offense. Coach Bone has his team looking to push the ball up court whenever possible and if players have an open look early in the shot clock, they take it.

No question the new brand of Cougar basketball will be put to the test in The Kennel facing an outstanding Gonzaga Bulldog club.

Regarding the competition, Coach Bone said, "They’re really good. There’s a reason why they are ranked sixteenth. Those big guys, (Robert Sacre and Elias Harris) that’s a huge reason why they are so good...because of their presence on both ends of the court. They will present some problems for us just like they do for everyone else. They just keep coming at you with their ‘bigs’ and their guards, but their ‘bigs’ are good."

When asked if there were lessons learned from playing San Diego who is coached by Bill Greer, a long time assistant for Coach Mark Few of Gonzaga, Coach Bone responded with, "I thought about that before playing (San Diego). It’s a chance to play against Bill (Greer) and knowing that he was at Gonzaga all those years. But there’s a little difference between Gonzaga and San Diego right now.

"There might be some similar stats. Some tendencies are the same. All in all, I don’t think we get a whole lot accomplished from thinking we’re playing a little better team than San Diego. (Gonzaga's) a lot better team. San Diego is good and Bill does a great job. And that night we played well and they didn’t. Gonzaga is a whole different monster."

Though the respect Coach Bone holds for the 'Zags is serious, he managed to lighten things up when responding to the cliché question about his freshmen point guards Reggie Moore and Xavier Thames feeling pressure from the intense atmosphere The Kennel will present Wednesday evening.

Coach Bone's thoughts are, "I’ll be disappointed if the crowd gets us to turn it over. That could happen. They don’t step out on the court, do they? They’re just loud. I hope they don’t get out there… If they’re loud and that bothers our players then that’s an even better learning experience. We’ll go into some other places that are loud this year and the guys are going to need to handle it.

"It’s all part of the learning process for the young guys. I know their crowd gets into it and that’s good for Gonzaga and that’s good for us. We’re trying to prepare ourselves for the Pac-10 season. Games against teams like Gonzaga and Kansas State do exactly that."

Just like Washington State, Gonzaga has a different look this season. The names have changed, but the team play remains. Coach Few has four players to lead a balanced scoring attack.

Matt Bouldin is back playing solid defense and scoring from everywhere on the court. He leads the 'Zags in scoring averaging 18.2 points, five rebounds, 4.2 assists per game, and he has the potential to go off for 30 points any night.

His mate in the back court, Steven Gray, is right there with Bouldin, scoring 16.4 points, pulling down 4.2 rebounds, and dishing off three assists per game. Robert Sacre and are a force in the front court scoring, 14.4 points and 12.6 points respectively per game.Elias Harris

According to Coach Bone, "They have a different team but following Gonzaga basketball for however many years, Mark’s been there eleven years now, it really doesn’t matter if they tweak this and tweak that. At the end of the day they’re really, really good.

"They have a great staff. Jerry Krause has been coaching for like 85 years now. If they get some big kids, and they have a better presence in the post, then they’re going to go to them. If they’re guard oriented, they’re going to go to their guards. If they have an Adam Morrison, they’re going to go to him."

For fans hoping to see the game Wednesday at 6:00 pm in Spokane, you better already have your tickets. Mentioning that the Bulldogs have sold out their home game is as obvious as the sun rising in the east and setting in the west. The game will be broadcast on FSN Northwest . If you want to hear the game called right, tune your radio to the Cougar Radio Network with Bud Nameck calling the play-by-play.

Originally published on Lew Wright's column on Examiner.com